far Side of the World
by galadriel-freak
Summary: AtlantisSeaQuest crossover. Ever wonder what happened to the missing 10 years after season 2 of SeaQuest... well... this is my version. Needless to say it helps if you know SeaQuest.
1. Chapter 1

_I started this story because I wanted answers to the missing 10 years between seasons 2 and 3 of SeaQuest. So it's probably best if you've seen SeaQuest, hopefully it still works if you haven't, but no promises._

_In keeping with my tradition I think I've started the story title again is barrowed from a Jimmy Buffet song. This is a story I've been messing with for a while… and I thought I'd post the first part just to see if anyone would be interested in it… I didn't know which category to post it, Atlantis or SeaQuest, but I figured I'd start here. I hope you guys like it… and as always… Reviews are loved… thx_

_I don't own Stargate: Atlantis or SeaQuest, if I did SeaQuest would never have left the air._

…oooOOOooo…

Far Side of the World

"And we came to this planet why?" Major John Sheppard kicked a stone along a foot worn path, the same stone he'd been kicking for fifteen minutes. Even going out of his way not to loose it.

"Well any rumor of a ZPM is worth checking out," McKay provided.

"Have you noticed that we don't tend to have a good track record in holding onto these things? He kicked the stone again.

Ford yelled up from his spot in the rear. "McKay, how much further till we get to this power source?"

Referring to his handheld sensor, "another few miles." Looking back up, "you know this is one of the nicer endless paths we've been down."

"It is quite beautiful," Teyla agreed. Tall trees with thick trunks and large, green translucent leaves surrounded the team. A deep green moss covered all the bark and rocks around the bases, it had a blue tint to it, almost seeming to glow. The ground was mostly clear, since not much sunlight sank below the looming trees. A few different kinds of small bushes managed to meek out a living below the canopy, giving the area an unreal feel.

Rodney was still looking upwards, "Reminds me of my uncle's cabin on Lake Superior."

"You had an 'uncle's cabin?'" John looked back.

"Yes, I had an 'uncle's cabin,' he sneered. "every summer my parents would force me and Jennie in the station wagon for the longest car trip on Earth. At the time I hated it, I was never a big nature person. Usually I spent the time preparing for the next school year."

"And set harmless animals on fire," Ford laughed.

"What!... I never…"

"You built an A-bomb for a class project… to me that says pyro… scary, crazy pyro."

"What is a _pyro_?" Teyla asked.

"Someone who enjoys setting things on fire; and no, I am not a pyro. Fire is most defiantly _not_ my idea of fun. What the hell is that?" McKay jumped to the side pointing, not even breaking the conversation.

"Just leave it alone and keep walking." Not even looking back, John just pointed forward.

…oooOOOooo…

Dagwood came running down to the beach, "Lucas… Lucas!"

"What?"

"There are people in the forest!"

"Are they Stormers?"

"They are humans."

…oooOOOooo…

"For the last time Major… I don't knock American football… can you please leave hockey alone?"

"I just don't think you should have to freeze your ass off to go to a game." Ignoring the screw up in rank.

"You play football in snow too… isn't that some big exciting deal down in Minnesota?"

"First of all… the Vikings play in a dome… not outside, you're probably thinking of the Packers. And second, people who live there are crazy…There is a reason I don't"

"Major…" Teyla broke the conversation, her weapon pointing into the woods.

"Hey, don't shoot" a voice came.

"We're not going to shoot you… why don't you just come out so we can see you."

Lucas carefully walked out with his hands raised, "Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, United States Air Force." Dropping his weapon.

"US Air Force?" Lucas lowered his hands and walked closer. "You're from Earth."

"As a matter of fact, we are." McKay spoke up surprised.

"How did you get here?" Lucas asked.

"If you mean here as in the planet, we came though the stargate." Sheppard responded.

"Stargate? How did you get here from Earth?"

"The answer would be the stargate again, and you?"

"The KraTaks kidnapped us…"

"KraTaks?" Teyla asked, "I have never heard of them."

"Right now that isn't important, do you have a sub?" Lucas said quickly

"A sub?" Ford asked, completely confused.

"Yeah, you know, a submarine. A ship that can go underwater." The teen responded with a _tinge_ of sarcasm.

Sheppard seemed to straighten up, "that depends, why do you need one?"

"My friends, the rest of my crew, the SeaQuest was hit, it went down." hope crept into his voice.

Looking back at John, Rodney raised his finger in thought, "The jumpers would work underwater…"

"Jumpers?" Lucas asked.

"Okay, lets slow down a bit; head back to Atlantis and get this whole…" he waved his hand, "story figured out."

"Atlantis, that's under the waters of the Mediterranean." Lucas said confidant yet still confused.

"Uhh… I don't think so," Mckay smirked, "I don't know what you found, but trust me, it wasn't Atlantis."

Telya spoke up, "may I suggest, Major, if there is the possibly of these… KraTaks… being around, that we return to Atlantis and continue this discussion."

"Yes…" John turned, "good idea." Back to Lucas, "follow us," motioning with his head toward the 'gate.

"But what about Darwin!" Dagwood yelled, jumping out from behind a tree.

Instinctively John raised his gun. "No!" Lucas raised his hand at Sheppard, "It's okay, he's with me, he's unarmed."

Dagwood, hands in the air, not-so-quietly whispered to Lucas, "We can't leave Darwin here, he won't know where to find us." Sheppard lowered his weapon, Ford followed suit.

"He'll be fine Dagwood, we won't be gone for long"

"Who's Darwin?" Ford asked.

"Darwin is a dolphin," Dagwood announced proudly.

"A dolphin?" McKay was skeptic.

"Yes"

"On a submarine?"

"Well he's not always on the SeaQuest. He leaves to find fish." Dagwood explained.

…oooOOOooo…

Back in the Atlantis gate room, Dr. Elizabeth Weir descended the main staircase as the stargate opened. First though was Major Sheppard, "Elizabeth, I've got a surprise for you."

As John said this, Lucas was spit out of the event horizon. "Whoa, that was intense."

Dagwood just after that, "mmm…dizzy."

Dr. Weir sighed, quietly whispering to John, "You did it again."

"Yeah I know," he grinned back. "Dr. Weir," He said officially, "I'd like to introduce Lucas Walen… Wol..."

"Wolenczak," Lucas filled in, very use to people mispronouncing his name, he shook her hand.

"Yes, sorry, Lucas Wolenczak and Dagwood; this is Dr. Elizabeth Weir."

"It is good to meet you Dr. Weir." Dagwood shook her hand very enthusiastically.

"We found them about five miles out, or rather they found us, they say they're from Earth." John emphasized that last part.

Weir shot a look of surprise back, "Earth?"

Lucas stepped forward, "I wanted to ask permission to use one of your puddle jumpers to try and rescue the rest of my crew."

"Whoa, slow down. Your crew…"

McKay beat Lucas to the punch, "Their submarine, the SeaQuest was apparently kidnapped from Earth by the people who live on M9A 137,"

"The SeaQuest went down during our attempt to destroy the mothership." Lucas interrupted, Rodney glared. "Our Captain and some of the crew were on the ship when it was blown, but I refuse believe that everyone is dead. I'm asking you to help me find them."

"How long ago was this?"

"The SeaQuest went down yesterday, it's been less then twenty-four hours." Before Weir could say anything, "Look, there's a good chance they're still alive down there. We have to save them" His voice started to raise in fear that he was back to being seen as a kid again by these people who didn't know him.

"Lucas,we _are_ going to help them, but first we have get all the facts." Weir was ever calm and convincing. "first if you would follow Major Sheppard to our infirmary, I'm sure you'll understand our need…"

"Yes, I understand…but"

"…and when Dr. Beckett has cleared you, which I will ask him to be quick about, we will discuss how we will go about rescuing your crew."

"I'm sorry Dr. Weir, I very much understand, but _you_ have to understand, Captain Bridger and the rest of my crew is down there, on the bottom of an alien ocean. Every moment we waste is a moment they get closer to death. I am begging you to let me use a jumper and try and save them."

Everyone was silent for a second, John was the first one to speak up, "Dr. Weir, permission to take a jumper out to look for survivors."

Her eyes never left Lucas, and his eyes were locked on her in return. "Mckay?"

"I can only assume the Ancients would make the things capable of functioning underwater. You yourself, or rather your older self, said you flew one out after the city was flooded and…"

Sheppard interrupted, "I'd have to agree with Mckay. The jumpers should be fine underwater, I mean they're made to fly in space, you know they are airtight," he shrugged.

Still watching Lucas, "Do you know where the SeaQuest went down?"

"Roughly."

"The sensors should help narrow it down," John piped in.

Dr. Weir was silent for a moment, Lucas didn't back down, "Colonel, you and Major Lorne take out two jumpers…"

"Thank you," Lucas smiled before Weir could finish.

"Mr. Wolenczak and Dagwood will direct you to the crash site."

Wasting no time, Sheppard started up the main stairs on his way to the jumper bay. "Major Lorne," into his radio.

"Yes sir."

"I want you in the jumper bay and ready to go off world in ten."

"My team too?"

"NO, we're on a search and rescue mission, we need to save room for survivors."

"Yes sir, on my way."

Lucas started after Sheppard, eager to start the search. "Thank you!" he said again back to Weir running up the stairs two at a time. Reaching to top he yelled back, "Dagwood."

He had wondered silently away from the group, gazing up in awe at the magnificent gate room, so much grander then anything on the SeaQuest.

"Come on man," Ford gave Dagwood a friendly thump on the back, "Let's go get your friends."

"Mmmkay," He grinned.

…oooOOOooo…

_I have more written so let me know if you liked it… cause it was much fun to write._


	2. Chapter 2

_I am so very very sorry for the long wait…. I had finals and the trip home… excuses escuses, I know…. So I posted a longer chapter for ya… and we will soon be meeting up with the rest of the seaQuest crew… and as always I don't own them, otherwise SQ would have been on DVD a long time ago (comes out on the 26th) and I would be in the Pegasus galaxy with Shep and the rest of them…. Hope ya like it… enjoy and review please… consider it my Christmas present… ha…._

…oooOOOooo…

"Well, they look like subs," Lucas hoped to be in more awe with the way they were building up these jumpers.

"Trust me," John looked back at him, "It'll baffle your mind soon enough," opening the back of the jumper, Ford and the rest of the team entered the bay.

Lucas stepped inside and looked around, clearly not impressed. "_This_ is a space ship?"

"You were expecting giant rockets?" Mckay rolled back.

Lucas wondered to the front, his eyes practically lit up at the sight of the controls, "okay, _this_ is cool either way."

John, eyebrow, "Well, I'm glad we meet your approval."

Ford grinned like a kid at Christmas, "Just wait 'til you see her fly."

Major Lorne joined the back of the group, "Ah, Major," Sheppard addressed him. "This is Lucas Wolenczak and Dagwood. _They_ are from Earth," Lorne's eyes went wide. "Their submarine went down, and we are going on a search for survivors. We are heading back out to M9A 137, Ford, Teyla and Dagwood will be with you in jumper two." He settled into the pilot chair as he explained.

"Yes sir," he said, after spending a year on Atlantis, and a while at the SGC before that, he was used to just going with it and not watching too many questions. Things don't always make sense.

Mckay stole the co-pilot, ignoring Lucas' obvious motions towards it. "Hey!"

"Grab a seat kid," McKay nudged him toward the chair behind Sheppard.

"I'm not a kid," Lucas shared irritated.

"Look," McKay shot back, "You're younger then Ford; you're a kid."

"How old are you?" Lucas turned and asked as Ford and the others left the jumper, heading for their own.

"Twenty five," he smirked back, then was gone.

Lucas turned back frustrated and annoyed.

"Rodney!" Dr. Zelenka's voice pierced though the air.

"What _is_ it Radek?"

"You can not be serious about taking a jumper under water."

"They can handle it."

"How can you be sure."

"Because I _am_ end of story." He turned to John "Are you ready yet?"

"Rodney!" Zelenka yelled again, McKay ignored him.

"Sheppard to control, Jumper One is ready to go."

"McKay are you sure the jumpers can handle this?" Weir asked.

"For the last time, _yes_, we will be fine."

There was a pause, "You have a go," Grodin's voice came back, "Good luck." Mckay could practically see Radek throwing his hands in the air and rolling his eyes.

Minutes later Jumper One broke though the Gate, with the second jumper a minute behind her.

"Alright, where we headin?"

"The SeaQuest was about twenty miles south, south east of the island, the mothership was right next to it."

"Sounds good, McKay, keep an eye on the scanner, look for any signs of a downed ship or maydays."

"Mothership," McKay said snidely, "sounds like something out of science fiction."

Sheppard pointed out the window off to the right, "Look a dolphin, must be your friend Darwin."

Craning his neck to see, "Yeah that's him," he grinned. "He's probably looking for the SeaQuest too."

"How do you keep a dolphin on a submarine exactly?" McKay watched Darwin dive back down.

"Captain Bridger designed the ship for one, there are aquatubes running throughout the ship. I also designed a vocorder to translate his clicks and whistles allowing us to communicate with him vocally."

"Really?" McKay perked up.

"The translations are basic, but it's far more efficient than hand signals."

"That's amazing, the way our brains function are so radically different."

"They think much more visually then we do. I also was working on a system to convert his sonar to create holoimages of his thoughts. Darwin was tentative to use it, so I only really got it to work once, but to see his thoughts as moving pictures was very cool."

"Not to barge into your little geek off here, but we should be close to the area your ship went down." Sheppard brought up the HUD, a 3D scan of the ocean's floor popped up.

"Already?"

"Well, we do have some horsepower in this thing… see anything?"

Mckay punched at the controls, changing to a metallurgical scan. "There," he pointed to the screen, "about a mile north, half a mile down, a beacon of shiny metal hope."

"Sheppard to Lorne."

"Lorne here."

"We have a possible crash site, just follow us."

"We're on your tail."

"Alright guys, hold on," and with that the jumpers splashed down into the water. The HUD became more reliable then the not so clear waters around them. It didn't take long for the SeaQuest to come into view.

She was broken into two pieces, snapped at the narrower section right behind the center circular segment. Her guts from the broken area littered the ground between the two pieces. Laying rolled slightly on her port side, it tore at Dagwood's heart to see her like this.

"I'm assuming that's her," Lorne said, "she defiantly looks like she was a beauty when she was moving."

"Yes," Dagwood agreed, "She is a real beauty… for a submarine."

McKay's voice came over the radio, "The lifesigns are gathered in two places, the front and back of the boat."

"Looks like the bridge and engineering," Lucas filled in.

Ford asked, "How exactly are we going to dock with the sub."

"Can the shields not hold the water back?" Teyla sat behind Aiden.

"But there's still no way to dock," Ford said back.

"And we didn't think of this earlier, why?" Sheppard's voice rang.

"Well I didn't see you bringing that point up," McKay almost barked back.

Lucas broke up the imminent bicker fight, "At least we know they are alive, there has to be a way to reach them."

Major Lorne had been scanning for any energy readings, "I'm not getting any signs of power, they are completely dead in the water, I doubt there is any way to communicate with them."

There was an audible snap from the radio, "Teyla's right."

She was confused, "I am sorry Doctor?"

"The shields, they would hold back the water."

"And," Sheppard wasn't seeing where this was going.

"Well, if they are capable of holding something out, then they should conceivably be able to hold something in."

"Hold what in?" Lorne asked.

"The SeaQuest…" Sheppard caught on.

"Whoa, is that even possible?" Lucas asked.

"There's a chance," McKay explained, "But only if we are able to join the two jumper's shields. We can't stretch one shield big enough to contain even the smaller portion of the ship. If we are able to unite the shields they should be able to extend far enough. If we divert enough power to the shielding there is a chance it would be strong though to hold the ship."

"Well," John stopped him, "Make it work."

"Yes, let me snap my fingers and I'll…"

"Just get to work will ya." As their voices came over the radio Ford turned to Lorne and just shook his head. He didn't think those two were capable of going on a mission with out going at it at least once… usually more.

McKay turned back to the controls, "It shouldn't be that difficult, each shield uses it's own magnetic frequency, if we override the controls and set them to the same wave length, they the shields should pop together like two bubbles combining into one if we are close enough."

"Pop together?" Lorne mouthed so the other jumper didn't hear him. All Ford could do was shrug.

"Major Lorne," McKay's voice calling him popped him back to attention. "If you could possibly tell me the frequency your shields are running on."

"I would love to, but I really have no clue where to find that." Lorne could practically see the physics rolling his eyes.

"On your sensors screen, it's in the bottom left window."

"Right, yeah…I knew that."

"Just tell me the setting."

"Hold up…126.894… that sound like what you need?"

"Yes…" he paused. "Okay, I matched our shield to yours, so when they connect they should form a large bubble."

"I still do not understand, how exactly is this going to assist us in reaching those in the SeaQuest?" Telya asked.

Sheppard spoke up before McKay, "He plans on lifting the ship out of the water, extending the shield around the SeaQuest and carrying it back to the shore where it will be easier to get into."

"Let us hope the shield is strong enough."

"Well let's get this party started," Lorne clapped his hands together.

"Yes please," Lucas finally got a word in from the other jumper.

…oooOOOooo…

The jumpers flew to either side of the ship's front section. There were more life signs in the bow of the ship and Commander Ford and others on the bridge would be very handy in locating and rescuing the Captain and those on the mothership. Slowly they moved closer to each other, eventually ending up a very short distance above the hull. As they activated the shields, McKay and Ford pushed them to their limits, diverting power from everything save life support and the engines.

The shields crackled aqua blue as they coalesced around the jumpers and the SeaQuest. Slowly they ascended a few meters testing the shield strength. Took a bit more from the engines with all the extra weight, but it held. After a lengthy trip to the surface, they broke out of the water. Without the pressure from the water, the engines had a much easier time heading back to the mainland. A trip that took a few minutes on the way out, took close to half an hour. The sub creaked as they set it down on the beach, rolling under its own weight, finally resting at a twenty five degree angle.

Lucas raced from the jumper to the front of the ship as soon as the back hatch was opened. Dagwood soon caught up with him, the rest following behind. Suddenly stopping, Lucas seemed to locate what he was looking for.

"What is it?" McKay asked.

"Probably the easiest way to get in, the aquatube hatch that should lead to the bridge." He felt along the outside crease.

"Is there an emergency release?" Ford asked.

"Not an actual one, not on the outside of the ship," he seemed to locate the spot he was looking for, although it looked exactly like any other part of the ship. "Colonel, do you have a knife?"

"Yeah," he reached behind him and unsheathed him utility knife, "here."

"Thanks," he started cutting though the hull, the others were amazed that something that looked so solid, was actually soft and rubbery, it still took much hacking and sawing to get though the extremely tough and thick skin, but after a few minutes Lucas opened a wound large enough to get his hand though. "Under the bio-hull though, I should be able to short circuit and release the clamps, allowing us to pry the hatch open." McKay grimaced at the sight of the thick, dark blue goo seeping out of the cut-though tube and over the teenager's hand.

The ship towered over them, luckily, they were still able to reach the tube. If the ship had rolled anymore, it would be laying on top of the aquatube opening. Next Lucas proceeded to puncture a hold though the middle of the door, again expanding it to fit a hand. "Dagwood, give me a hand," he rushed to Lucas' side. "I've cut the wires, I need you to try and pull the door open."

"mmmkay." He reached into the hole in the skin with both hands, looking for something to grab hold of inside.

"That door looks heavy, do ya want some help," Sheppard stepped forward.

Lucas smirked back, "Prolly not…" he got a small kind of satisfaction that they were left out of this plot and in the dark the same way they seemed to leave him out on the jumpers.

Dagwood planted his feet and braced himself. It took a few minutes of pulling and Major Lorne thought the veins in Dagwood's neck were going to pop, but eventually it creaked open. As soon as it was open far enough for his fingers to fit though, he used that has leverage to pull, then push the hatch fully open. While he did this, water came pouring out, causing everyone else stepped back. Soon the only thing left was a dark and empty tunnel.

Sheppard handed Lucas a flashlight, "Lead the way. McKay, Teyla, Lorne, stay here, we'll call you when we find anything or we need you."

"Why do we have t…"

"Rodney… just do it." John stated.

"Fine," McKay spat, "I didn't really want to go skipping down a dark wet tunnel anyway."

Sheppard rolled his eyes and crawled in after Lucas and Dagwood who had already disappeared. Once inside, he pulled out his Life Signs Detector, "I'm going to assume the crew that I'm seeing on this thing are coming from the bridge."

"What?" Lucas turned around.

"We have this cool little thingy that detects life signs," he held the detector out.

"Way cool." He took it from the Colonel's hand. It took a minute to get the orientation right. "Yeah, that looks like the bridge. It's not much further from here, but we will have a steep climb."

"It works for you?"

"Why wouldn't it?" he gave it back.

"Another long story, I'll tell ya later."

Ford was behind Sheppard, "How can you tell where you're going down here, it all looks the same?"

Lucas started moving again, "Most of these tubes follow along the corridors of the ship. I don't know how Darwin and Tony knows where he's going down here."

"Sounds reassuring," John said, slightly confused.

As they neared the top of the incline there was a light, "That should the bridge." Lucas slipped again, Dagwood grabbed his shirt, even though he hadn't lost his footing. "Thanks."

The glass on the dome was fogged over, Dagwood and Lucas couldn't see out. They tried to wedge and push the dome open, suddenly it was opened from the outside. Commander Ford was standing on the other side.

"Lucas?"

"Commander." He grinned back. "Good ta see you too."

…oooOOOooo…

_it might be a bit before I get to update again… I'm not going to have internet over Christmas. But fear not, I shall update once I get back next week… merry holidays everyone…!_


	3. Chapter 3

_I hope everyone had a good holiday season… I have an extra long chapter here for ya… hot off the press, i just got home and finished typing I know they are showing splashdown tomorrow but I wanted to post this today anyways… so any inconsistencies are just cause I haven't seen the episode in a few years and so if anything is different… well then just pretend this is a slight AU and work with me on that. _

_Hope you enjoy it…_

…oooOOOooo…

"Lucas?"

"Commander." He grinned back. "Good ta see you too."

"Dagwood! What are you guys doing here, _how_ did you get here. What did you do to the ship?"

"Well we helped a _bit_," Sheppard said from behind Dagwood.

"I'm sorry," Commander Ford was confused.

"Oh yeah," Lucas climbed out of the pool, the Commander gave him a hand then helped the others out too. "Commander Jonathan Ford, this is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and Lieutenant Adien Ford."

"Lieutenant _Colonel_?"

"Yes Sir, USAF"

Commander Ford was still utterly confused, "How did you get here?"

"Why don't we get you guys out of the sub and back to Atlantis first."

"Do you have a medical team, have wounded."

"Dr. Beckett's a miracle worker," Sheppard tapped his radio, "McKay."

"Yeah."

"You and Teyla grab the stretchers out of the jumpers and bring them in, Ford will meet you out there and show you the way to the bridge."

"On our way."

"Yes sir," Ford said and climbed his way back into the aquatube.

"Who's hurt," Lucas looked around.

"Most of the ship flooded when we where hit, the bridge, engineering and a few other places are still dry."

The bridge was unrecognizable. Display screens were broken and thrown across the bridge, dislodged chairs had been salvaged for the wounded. The smell of smoke still filled the air from dead fires. The area around the captain's chair and communications had been cleared away, Tim O'Neill lay there unconscious.

"Tim?" Dagwood quickly ran over to him. Tim's leg had been splinted and his head was wrapped in gauze, red blood was seeping though. "What happened to Tim Commander Ford?"

"He got thrown during the crash Dagwood."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I hope so."

"How many others are injured," Lucas asked.

"Tim is the most critical, there are four others with minor injuries. We lost five people from the bridge…" he looked at Lucas.

"Do you have any news from Bridger?"

"He blew the ship, I told him the SeaQuest was hulled… Commander, I don't know how they could have survived."

"The Captain's tough, you know that. We're going to find a way down there to get them."

Lucas didn't know how to react, he fell back into the captain's chair, emotions finally starting to take him. McKay, Teyla and Ford came back at that point with the two stretchers from the jumpers and an extra medpack. Sheppard helped them out of the empty pool, "Why don't you load up the Lt. first, he looks to be in pretty bad shape. Might want to call Beckett before you get there, give him a fair warning."

"This place is a mess." McKay said looking around as Teyla and Lt. Ford brought a stretcher to O'Neill.

"Rodney," Sheppard warned.

"What? Oh… no offense or anything," He turned to the Commander who was standing next to them. "It's just… well… the fact that this place wasn't flooded is astounding."

"The SeaQuest is a well built ship," Commander Ford defended.

"Mmm… so it seems."

"Commander Ford," Sheppard broke the conversation, "This is Dr. Rodney McKay."

"Ford huh, no relation to the Lt. I take it?" McKay asked.

"No offense, _Doctor_, but if we could get my people food and medical attention and rescue the rest of my crew, _before_ we study our family trees…"

"Oh…right… of course"

…oooOOOooo…

The jumpers were full with the crew from the bridge. Everyone else, except for Lt. O'Neill, had been able to walk and crawl their way out on their own, or with someone's help. Dr. Beckett and the rest of the medical team met them in the jumper bay. The door had barely touched the floor when the medical team was on board.

"Well, what do we have here?"

"His name is Tim," Dagwood supplied, quickly standing up very close to the doctor in a sort of protective manner between him and Tim. Carson looked up at Dagwood with wide eyes.

"Excuse me son, I can't help him if you don't let me see him."

Commander Ford stepped back from his seat in the cockpit. "Dagwood, it's okay," the larger man stood aside cautiously. "Lieutenant O'Neill's been fairly stable for the past twelve hours or so. Down for about twenty four total, he's been floating in and out of consciousness."

"Alrighty, we'll take it from here, thank you." and with that Carson took control and started issuing out orders to his staff.

Once O'Neill was rolled out, Dr. Weir made her way though the rest of the wounded stumbling their way to the infirmary, Teyla stayed with one of the bridge members who was using her as a crutch. The still forms of those who had fallen somberly were taken off the second jumper. Lucas silently followed them out. Elizabeth noticed the heartbroken look on his face. "Colonel Sheppard, I see that you were successful in reaching the SeaQuest."

"Why yes we were," he grinned. "Dr. Elizabeth Weir, meet Commander Jonathan Ford."

"Doctor Weir, we owe you one for saving our butts back there."

"Anytime, but as I understand you still have people out there."

"That we do. Captain Bridger and a number of the crew were on the mothership when it blew."

"Is there any chance they are still alive?"

"With all due respect ma'am, I need to find them either way."

"I understand."

"Can we bring it up like we did with the SeaQuest?" Lucas poked his head back on the jumper and in the conversation.

Rodney finally spoke up, "That depends on how large the pieces are, the shields and engines were strained enough bringing back the first part of the ship."

"We could take a shuttle back." Lucas said.

"We've already established the jumpers can't dock with ships underwater," Rodney assumed they meant their own ships.

"I see where your going Lucas," Ford ignored him. "But we can't get the shuttles out of the bay while the SeaQuest is dry."

"Then we submerge her again."

"Colonel, can we drop the SeaQuest back in the water."

"Why?"

"Can someone fill me in please," Rodney interrupted.

"Our shuttles run off their own power supply, they should still be functional" Lucas explained. "But there's no way we can take one of them out while the ship is out of the water, they aren't as fancy as your pretty little jumpers. If we can pull open the bay doors and resubmerge the SeaQuest," Sheppard wasn't looking convinced, moving the front section was hard enough for the jumpers the first time. "Look, our shuttles are made to dock down there. We can easily get to the mothership and rescue the Captain."

"How many of your crew is trapped there?" Weir asked.

"Ten."

"John, once the ship is back in the water, send Lt. Miller in another jumper, him and Lorne can retrieve the second piece of the ship while you're on the mothership. We don't need to leave those people down there any longer then they need to be."

Ford nodded, "Lucas, Dagwood, I want you to stay here with the injured…"

"But!" Lucas protested.

"We need to save room on the shuttle for the rest of the crew and who knows if any KraTaks or stormers are still down there."

The teenager turned and marched back out the jumper, following the few stragglers heading toward the infirmary.

"Wait up Lucas," Dagwood quickly caught up with him, "We should go make sure Tim is okay, he didn't look so good…" his voice trailed away.

"McKay join Lorne in the other shuttle, we'll head back to the planet, fill them in on the plan in route, we don't have much time."

"What am I, your receptionist, you have a radio." Sheppard glared back at him. "Fine… I'm going, but is it really so hard to talk to him yourself." He complained as he walked off the ramp.

"Elizabeth, call Miller, get him and Teyla back in a jumper and back to the planet ASAP."

"I want you to report back in four hours."

"Yes mother," Sheppard retook his pilot seat.

"Teyla and Miller will meet jumper two on the other side of the gate, good luck."

…oooOOOooo…

The first thing they did when they got back to the planet is attach heavy cables to the shuttle bay doors. Using the jumpers and elbow grease, they wrenching open the doors. "Lonnie's going to kill me," Ford sighed as the doors screeched and groaned to a halt. By this time Miller and Teyla had brought the other jumper though the gate. Sheppard joined Commander Ford climbing in though the bay and upto the shuttle. "I bet this is usually much easier when there's water huh," Sheppard scaled the wall of the bay up to the shuttle following Ford.

"That and entering though an actual dock… this place looks so much bigger without water."

"I'm sure."

"You ever pilot a sub?" Ford asked.

"No, but I haven't run across anything I can't fly, swimming can't be that much harder."

"Don't be so sure of yourself flyboy."

"All we saw was a pile of debris, I certainly hope there are some air pockets in that hunk of metal."

Once they were on the shuttle and powered it up the Colonel radioed to Lorne, "We're ready on our end."

"We'll make it a nice smooth ride Colonel, Lorne out."

"You have good men Colonel."

Slightly caught off guard, "Thank you." Pause, "And from the few of your crew I've meet, so are they."

"I just have to say thank you, for pooling so many of your resources for my crew."

"Well ya know, us Earthlings need to stick together, it's a big galaxy."

…oooOOOooo…

It would have taken much longer to cut though the hull if Sheppard hadn't packed a compact, high-powered torch designed to cut though naquada. The bulk of the ship had been hidden under sand that was disturbed by the blast, they were lucky to find a section large enough to dock that was attached to an air pocket.

"Where do you get this kind of tech?" Ford yelled over the torch.

"Kinda hard to explain."

"You know I'm getting really tired of this run around _Colonel_."

"When we're finished rescuing your people _Commander_ we can both explain, we both have plenty of unanswered questions for each other."

The echoing thud of the hull hitting the deck broke the tension. They had to watch their footing since the whole ship went down hill in front of them and water dripped from the floor above. Sheppard took out his Life Signs Detector. "What's that?" Ford asked.

"A cool little Lantian thing that… tells… me your crew is probably over there," he pointed his P90 to the right.

"Probably?"

"Well if there really are any of those KraTaks around, I can't really tell the difference between the two with this thing. But there is a group of about a half dozen or so people over that way."

"Right," he nodded, "let's go."

The deck above them was most likely flooded, causing the water to drip consistently on top of them. "Feels like this place is going to collapse at any time." Sheppard shook water out of his eyes.

"I'd rather not stay here any longer then needed myself. How much further?"

"Hundred feet or so." The tractionless wet floor kept them from moving at a run; yet they made their way quickly, keeping their eye's open for surprises. In front of them the bulkheads had collapsed creating an impenetrable roadblock.

"Captain Bridger?" Ford yelled. Nothing. Closer, "Captain?"

A muffled voice, "Ford?"

"Captain!" he came to the block, there was no way to see though it, a steady trickle of water fell from the ceiling. With the steep incline of the floor there was no where for it to go except further down the hallway, with the Captain and his crew.

"Jonathan, it's amazing to hear your voice. How did you get here?"

"We found some friends."

"Who?"

"It's a long story," Ford winced as the words left his mouth. "Let's get you out of here and dry first."

"I like that idea."

"Sir," Sheppard was poking around at the barrier, figuring out what was and wasn't load bearing. "If you would step back I think I can punch some of this though and make a hole big enough to fit though."

"Who is that?"

"Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, USAF." He filled in.

"Air Force, what are they doing out here."

"That's part of the long story Sir." Ford said. "Is everyone okay?"

"Cuts, bruises, burns and we've been in freezing water all day with no food and Piccolo is trapped in the next section which is flooded. We've lost five people… including Wendy… Other then that we're just dandy."

"Let's just hope Tony's okay." He said quietly.

Sheppard glanced to Ford, "He's been under water for a day and he _might_ be okay?

"I'll explain later."

"Right, why don't I stand back now so you can get us out of here." Bridger yelled over.

"Good idea." The two men spent the next ten minutes pulling and pushing at the wall of debris in front of them. "Watch your toes," Sheppard warned the rest of the crew. Thud. Soon there was a small window about chest level.

"Nice to see you Commander." Bridger leaned down and peered though the newly formed hole.

"You too Sir, let's get you out of here."

"Don't have to ask me twice. Alright Lonnie, you're the smallest, if anyone can fit though there it's you."

"Yes sir." She got a boost from Bridger, it wasn't the most graceful move she'd ever done. More like a giraffe being born.

Next was Ortiz, he had a slightly more difficult time squeezing though the hole. "Damn good to see you sir."

Ford patted his back, "you too Miguel."

After Ortiz, they solemnly passed the body of Dr. Smith though. They had used a broken piece of the bulkhead to create a stretcher of sorts. Ortiz and Brody had spared their undershirts in order to cover her face and chest, where blood from the gunshot wound that had killed her had bleed though. Brody was the last through before Bridger hoisted his way over. "Tony's is trapped behind the hatch at the end of the hallway. They hit our shuttle it was in flames, we were pinned down, after we blew the ship the stormers kept coming. We lost the rest of the team, we trapped the rest of the stormers on the other side of a blast door or something. There was a crack in the hull as we hit the ground, started taking on water. Tony pushed us through the next door and shut it behind me so we wouldn't be flooded. We could only talk to him for about and hour after that. He stopped knocking back a few hours ago."

"Head back to the launch, it's straight up the corridor and then a left, we'll get Piccolo."

"Hurry," as Bridger turned and lead the rest of the crew up to the launch.

There was about three feet of standing water at the end of the inclined hallway in front of the hatch. "Be ready to run," Ford went for the release.

"No kidding."

Pulling up hard on the release, Ford pulled the door though the standing water, more watcher rushed past them, threatening their balance. "Damn that's cold," Sheppard gasped.

"Piccolo," Ford yelled over the water. "Tony!" He pounded the wall on the other side of the door. "Come on Piccolo… Tony!" Slowly a head rose out of the water on the far side of the hallway. "Tony, come on, we're getting you out of here."

"…ood… see you… sir…wh took… so long." He stuttered out shaking. The two men pulled him past the hatch; as Sheppard struggled to push shut the hatch and stop the water flow, Ford helped Tony past the wall blockage. Once the hatch was closed again, Sheppard quickly crawled though the gap and helped support Tony's other side up the incline. "…wouldn't… appen to…blanket, would you? His legs barely worked as he still shook violently.

"In the launch, nice warm ones." They turned the corner. At the dock Lonnie and Bridger took his weight, helping him to the bench, she wrapped a survival blanket around him in the process.

Ortiz and Brody were already at the helm, powering up the launch. "We all in?" Brody yelled down the ladder.

"Yeah, let's get out of here." Ford slammed on the button and closed the launch's hatch. You could hear the water rushing in, filling the space between the two ships. Sheppard held on to the railing, trying his best not to seem nervous at the crashing sounds.

"How are ya kid?" Bridger handed Tony an unrapped emergency ration from the same survival kit his blanket had come from. Lonnie took one for herself and ripped it open for herself.

"Thanks sir," His shaking has calmed enough for him to speak clearly again. "Cold sir, very cold…" he took a bite, "…and my lungs hurt."

"I bet."

Ford climbed into the cockpit, "Why don't you guys grab some food, I'll get us to where we're going."

"Don't have to ask me twice," Ortiz practically leaped down the ladder.

Brody waited until the Commander had the controls before leaving. "Emergency rations never sounded so good."

In the back, the Captain had taken a blanket and instead of wrapping it around him self he covered Wendy's still form laying on the bench opposite Tony. After a moment of silence, "I have to thank you Colonel, don't know how much longer we could have lasted in there."

"Don't mention it." He stood awkwardly in the corner.

When Brody got to the bottom of the stairs, Ortiz already had rations out of the packaging and in his mouth. "I heard there was food." Miguel threw him a package. "Hey, Tony, good to see you."

"Yeah, you too. Hey is there another blanket by chance, huh?"

"Should be," Lonnie looked for the second survival pack.

"I should… ah… go see if the Commander needs any help up there." Sheppard quickly scooted up the ladder to the cockpit.

Lonnie handed Bridger another blanket who wrapped it around Tony, wrapping the other one around herself.

"Mmmm… artificial jerky." Brody took the last bite of his ration, reaching for another.

Bridger climbed up into the cockpit, "How's the SeaQuest."

"Not pretty, she's in two pieces." Ford answered.

"How many casualties?"

"Not sure yet, they were bringing up the aft of the ship now, but we lost four on the bridge." He turned to face his captain. "Tim's in pretty bad condition."

"What happened?"

"Tim's head collided with his screen, he's in and out of consciousness, pretty bad broken leg among other things. He's back at Atlantis, he'll be okay."

"Atlantis!"

"I know what you're thinking, and no. I've never seen anything like this place."

"It's an Ancient city we discovered." Sheppard filled in.

"How old?"

"…What?... oh… No… The Ancients… they're a people, sorta like humans, but not."

"How did you get on Hyperion?"

"Though the StarGate, Atlantis isn't on Hyperion, it's quite a distance away, other side of the galaxy in fact."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I'm really not the best guy to explain all this to you, I confuse myself sometimes. But the StarGates were made way, way back in the day, but some really, really smart people who are extinct… mostly… And the 'Gates create stable wormholes between each other allowing us to travel all over the place. Even between galaxies, which is how we got here from Earth. My team and I were searching the planet looking for a ZPM when we ran across your crew."

"Who?"

"Lucas and Dagwood." Ford answered.

"How is he?"

"He's fine, he convinced the Colonel and his team to come and find the rest of us."

"Remind me to thank him."

…oooOOOooo…

_I never hated Wendy, but I never liked her either… but her death is the first in my list of things to explain. It's a cheep way to go but I promise the others will be better. don't worry Tim will get better, him, Tony and Ortiz are my favorite characters…. And more Darwin to eventually… As always please review… please…. Pretty please… might take me a bit to get the next chapter up cause I have new years and another iinternetless trip coming up but shouldn't be too long… I'll work extra hard… I'll even hold off the knitting of my RENT sweater if I get really into it… ha… _

_namarie_


	4. Chapter 4

_So I got the next chapter done much earlier then I thought I would… so I might as well just post it… I got to watch splashdown yesterday and yes I did notice slight things I got wrong… but too bad, this was already written and I was going mostly on memory… so just ignore the inconsistencies… grin_

_This chapter doesn't have the movin and shakin as the last ones, mostly explaining to each other what happened… but there are battles a comin… just stay with me… and as always… if you like… let me know_

…oooOOOooo…

Lucas and Dagwood ran into the water as soon as the shuttle surfaced. Darwin had seen the Shuttle and followed it back to shore. He didn't leave the Catptain's side as Nathan waded a shore, going as far as he dared so as not to beach himself. "Hey there bud, how you doing, whole new ocean to explore huh?" Nathan gave him an 'okay' sign and sent him back out to open waters, he flew though the air many times in celebration. Both sides had gotten so used to the Vocorder, that not being able to fully communicate the joy off seeing each other again was difficult. Once on the beach, Bridger stood there for a few moments, taking in the sad sight of his broken ship. Lucas came up next to him. "It's amazing as many people survived as they did." He said quietly.

"Not enough people though… We lost good people… Including Wendy, Lucas."

"Dr. Smith's dead…" Lucas looked in disbelief at the Captain.

"A Stormer got her, there was nothing we could do." He looked back to the ship. "I don't know if they'll let me build another one."

"Sure they will, she's the SeaQuest."

"I couldn't even keep her in one piece for a year."

"It's not your fault."

"I know… but she's still my ship."

"At least your alive to _build_ another one." They stood there in silence for a bit longer before Commander Ford called for them, the jumper was ready, everyone was on board, they were heading for Atlantis.

…oooOOOooo…

"Colonel Sheppard, I see you've brought me back even more patients."

"Merry Christmas Doc."

"It's the middle of October."

"Merry early Halloween then. They've been sitting in a broken tin can on the bottom of the ocean and sitting in freezing water for well over a day. They're a bit wet." Sheppard said smartly

"I see that, Colonel, thank you."

"Dr. Beckett," Captain Bridger stood next to Sheppard.

"Captain Bridger?"

"In person."

"Your crew's been askin' for ya. They're all tucked away safe in the infirmary."

"They're doing well then."

"Aye, how about yourself?"

"Could use a shower and warm dry clothes, but otherwise…"

"Don't worry Captain, each and every one of you will be following me down to my infirmary and staying for a bit, don't want any pneumonia on my watch . You can catch up with your crew then."

"I'm more worried for Mr. Piccolo, he's was trapped in a flooded compartment for the whole time we were down there."

"Excuse me, trapped underwater, and he's alive?"

"He has gills, but I can imagine even having gills, that amount of time underwater would take it's toll."

Brody and Ortiz brought Tony off the jumper between them. Carson was dumbfounded "Did you say gills?"

…oooOOOooo…

"Captain Bridger."

"Dr. Weir I assume." Bridger sat up a bit in his infirmary bed, hooked up to monitors and an IV. "I want to thank you for rescuing my people. I thought our goose was cooked back there."

"Well it's not often we find anyone else from Earth out here."

"By the way, where is out here exactly?"

"You're on Atlantis, it's a city the Ancients left behind when they left for Earth, _You_ are currently in the Pegasus Galaxy." She grinned.

"Well that's quite a statement, I was under the assumption that Atlantis sank in the middle of the Atlantic and… the _Pegasus Galaxy_. How in the world did you travel to another galaxy.

"We use a device called a StarGate. It allows us to travel from planet to planet via a wormhole. As you can imagine it took quite a bit of power to get us here from Earth. Currently we are able to open a wormhole to Earth periodically, we recently got a ZPM. We also have a ship, the Deadalus traveling between the galaxies."

"So we do have a way to get home?"

"Don't know about your ship, but your crew certainly."

"How come on one on Earth knew about these StarGates?"

"A few governments knew, but knowledge of them has been kept it from the general public for fear of panic. The StarGate project has been in full swing for almost ten years in the US.

"So I guess we're stuck here with you, huh."

"We have some of the smartest people from Earth on Atlantis. If anyone can think of a way, they can. I'll talk to Dr. Beckett and see if we can't spring you guys out of this place." She looked down the line at this rest of his people. Most of which were asleep, or being visited from shipmates.

The Captain chuckled, "I don't know if he can stand to have me out of his sight. I only have to cough the guy's right here poking and prodding."

"He does have eyes all over doesn't he? I heard he threatened to strap you too your bed if you didn't stop getting up to check on your crew."

"He's quite stubborn." Bridger said matter-o-factly

Weir grinned, "Once you're free of his grasp we can get our crews together and go over both of our stories, get everything straightened out."

"Good idea."

…oooOOOooo…

"Captain Bridger?"

"Nice to see you awake Lieutenant."

"You're alive," Tim said weakly and almost surprised.

"No one told you?"

"That's because he just woke up Captain," Dr. Beckett walked up. "And how exactly did you sneak back into my infirmary and start pestering my patients?"

"Though a very cunning use of stealth and making sure your back was turned… How is he?

"Recovering from a nasty concussion, broken bones, bumps and bruises, but I'm very happy to see Lt. O'Neill awake again, quite a good sign."

"He's a tough kid."

"That he is."

"You know… I'm right here," Tim waved his had in front of them.

"Well hurry up and heal up, there's a whole city for you to study, you and Ortiz be in seventh heaven. You've finally found Atlantis."

"So I heard."

The Captain chuckled, "Rest up," he patted Tim's good knee.

"Yes Sir," He have a lazy salute.

Bridger turned back to Carson, "How much longer 'till he's up and about?"

"The swelling's gone down, his leg's healing nicely. If his MRI comes back normal then he might be up for crutches tomorrow. As long as he checks in regularly." He looked at Tim carefully."

"No offence but if it means getting out of here, you just tell me when and I'll be…here… I'm going batty staring at this ceiling."

"You only just woke up." Bridger laughed.

"And I'm already sick of it."

"Aye, I get that a lot, I think I should paint the walls or somethin'." Carson looked around.

"At least the ceiling, or show some movies or something."

"Well let's not go too far, this isn't a hotel or anythin'."

…oooOOOooo…

Later that afternoon, both senior crews had gathered in Atlantis' conference room. Carson had even let Tim out early just so he wouldn't have to hear him beg anymore about being the only one missing. "…In our travels though the 'Gate, we've discovered the existence of a race called the Ancients," Dr. Weir continued. "They are the ones who created the StarGates. We also found out they are the first evolution of the human race."

"First evolution?" Commander Ford asked.

McKay answered, "They were sort of super-smart-humans, they kinda seeded Earth, we wouldn't be here without them."

Elizabeth continued, "A species, here in the Pegasus Galaxy, called the Wraith defeated the Ancients, they returned to Earth, leaving this city in hibernation behind them… and here we are."

"Completing the circle." Lucas said in awe.

"In a manner of speaking… yeah I guess so." Mckay said.

"My question is what is the UEO, I've never heard of it," Weir asked.

"How long have you been here?" Brody asked in disbelief.

"Just over a year."

"Then how do you not know about the United Earth Oceans Origination?" Brody continued.

"Is that sorta like NATO? Lt. Ford asked.

"NATO?... I guess," Bridger said. "It was formed in 2009 when…"

"Whoa," Sheppard interrupted, waving his hand. "2009, I don't think so."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know if you've look at your calendar lately, but it's only _2005_."

"Um… last time I checked it was 2019," Lucas quipped back.

"Okay… we have a problem," Zelenka pushed his glasses up his nose.

Weir placed her hands on the table, "Why don't we start at the beginning," she turned to the Captain. "How exactly did you get here?"

"We received a message about a week ago from what we thought was an old friend of mine, asking us to head to Christmas Tree Trench. In reality, what we didn't know at the time, is that it was really a KraTak fooling us. They kidnapped us, dragged us though… hyperspace or something… only for a short time mind you, never in a million years did I think we had gone far enough to be in another galaxy. The Hyperions, who we thought had brought us here, tried convincing us to fight with them against the KraTaks who were wiping them out after they flooded the planet. Needless to say we were wrong, we were about to help the KraTaks wipe out the Hyperions. We snuck back on the Hyperion Mothership, their only ship with interstellar capabilities. We got trapped, the KraTaks attacked the SeaQuest and we ended up blowing the ship while we were still on it."

"Well sometime during that hyperspace trip you must have somehow gone back in time also," McKay broke in.

"But that's impossible," Tim mentioned.

"Mmm… not so much." Sheppard leaned back in his chair, smirking.

"You said you were in hyperspace for only a few minutes?" Radek asked

"Not even," Lucas responded.

"In order to travel that distance in that amount of time you have to have been traveling roughly the same speed as a wormhole."

"Is that even possible?"

"I didn't think so, but during your trip you must have come very close to a sun during a solar flare." McKay said

Weir remembered the SG-1 mission Rodney was thinking of from when he went over their records before the Atlantis project. "But they weren't traveling in a wormhole."

"They may have been, who's to say the Ancients were the only ones to master wormhole technology. These… KraTaks maybe have figured out a way to create wormholes independent of StarGates and integrate those capabilities into their ships."

"It's hard to believe they had that level of technology," Ortiz said.

"The Gua'uld didn't invent most of their technology, we didn't event the StarGates. They may have stolen it from someone else." McKay said.

"Well, no matter how they got it, as far as I know their only system for it was on that ship when it blew. So it should be gone." Bridger said.

"Wait a minute, if we're from 14 years in the future, why didn't we ever know about this Star… Gate… program… thing?" Tony spoke up.

Weir shrugged, "I guess the program never went public."

"I wonder if it's still running." He said almost to himself.

"Well, we won't know now will we." Ortiz said back.

"Now, not so fast guys, Dr. McKay, is there anyway to send us back to our own time?" Bridger asked.

"Theoretically, yes. In practice, it may be a bit harder."

"Okay."

Rodney sighted, "In theory, if we send you though a wormhole, though a flare, on the opposite side of the sun you first went though, it would reverse the time affects."

"And in reality?"

"We can't predict flares, number one. And second, I don't know how their wormhole tech works. It could be functioning on a different level, if it transports faster or slower the time span you travel could be radically different."

"So how can we take this from probably not working to _actually_ working?" Sheppard asked.

"The only way, is if we could predict flares, find the path they took though space, find the sun that affected them and use the KraTak wormhole tech." Zelenka said

"Oh is that all? Sheppard said sarcasticly.

"Which we just destroyed." Bridger said.

"Which you just destroyed, yes," McKay responded.

"Is there anyway you can salvage it?" Weir asked.

"Depends on how well they destroyed the ship." Zelenka said

"We blew it pretty well," Brody said almost in pride.

"There's gotta be some information and tech still intact," McKay said.

"There's no way you'll be able to find anything working left on that ship," Lucas warned.

"Hold up Lucas, they know much more about these wormholes then we do at this point," Lucas rolled his eyes, "There very well could be stuff left intact down there. I mean we survived didn't we."

"It's still underwater."

"They brought the SeaQuest up."

"You know, it would make it a bit easier to work on, you know… if it wasn't flooded and all." McKay pointed out.

"Okay, Colonel, I want you to bring the mothership up, make sure it's empty of any KraTaks, and we'll go from there." Dr. Weir stood up.

"Yes, ma'am. Ah… This is the last thing we have to move via jumper right, I don't know how much more of this they can take."

"Let's hope so."

As McKay and Zelenka left, Lucas ran to catch up, "Dr. McKay, I have some questions for you."

"Some?" Brody laughed.

Dagwood walked with Tim out the door, "Are we going to leave Darwin on the other planet, they have lots of water here too."

Captain Bridger walked over to Dr. Weir, "I just wanted to thank you again."

"We're both stranded out here alone Captain."

"Not alone anymore."

…oooOOOooo…

_awww… they're one big Earthling happy family… so now we have everyone… but now they need to get back home… dun dun dun… have a happy new year everyone… I'll update when I get back home again…_


	5. Chapter 5

_I am SOOO sorry it's taken so long… I was suddenly hit by the start of my last semester of school and hit hard… so yes, this chapter is much shorter and again I'm very sorry for that, but I sorta ran into a block, I knew what I wanted to happen but not how I wanted it to happen and I wanted to get something up for you guys…_

_Btw… this weeks Atlantis was awesome and when they ended up pulling the same shields under water trick I used in this very story I jumped up and down and "YAY-ED" for a while, until my roommates yelled at me that I was crazy… I was very proud of myself though… _

_Anyway… enjoy…_

…oooOOOooo…

After comparing the Mothership's schematics to what was now left, and with a bit of logical thinking, Lonnie and Lucas figured out the section of the ship most likely to hold the engineering controls. Lorne and Sheppard were now quite used to dragging ships out of the sea. As the wreckage set down on the beach, a distance from the SeaQuest, it creaked and moaned under it's own weight. As the jumpers set down, the pilots met up with the rest of the team set to sweep the ship.

Aiden had issued Commander Ford, Brody, Ortiz P90s while the ship was being recovered. "You might need these when the mothership lands." He loved saying things like that.

Jim looked over the weapon, "What in the world…"

"Is there a problem?" Teyla asked.

"You people really are from the past, I've seen these things in museums."

"Dude, you're not that far ahead of us," he held out a different weapon, "You want a Wraith stunner instead, they're more 'cool looking.'"

Brody looked down at the stunner. "A stunner… no thank you, I'll take this, has a bit more of a punch I think. I want to take those bastards down." He grinned back at the Lt. "Besides, I'll be able to tell my kids I got to fire an antique."

Ford put the stunner back, "It's only fourteen years, don't go getting an ego."

"Kids?" Ortiz joked.

"Someday."

"Riiiight."

…oooOOOooo…

The water drained and dripped from the broken ship. They let it stand for ten, fifteen minutes. The beach around the ship became a pool of sea water, thick rivers running back down to the ocean. The combined security force from the two ships entered though the hole Sheppard had cut earlier. Sunlight didn't penetrate far though the darkness. The flashlights from their P90s cast eerie shadows on the dead vessel's bulkheads. Every few feet there would be a pinpoint of sunlight shining though small cracks in the hull. Water still dripped down from the decks above them, all of which created an atmosphere that sent chills down their spines.

"Right," Sheppard looked around. "Okay, my team, I guess we'll go this way," he nodded the direction him and Ford had gone earlier and found the SeaQuest crew.

"And we'll go this way." Commander Ford nodded the other direction.

"Sounds good," Sheppard started down the corridor.

"Colonel," Sheppard turned, "Good hunting," The Commander said.

"It'd be easier if they were deer… they are they… deer I mean." He came back.

"Trust me… no."

"Right, thought not." And with that, Sheppard, Lt. Ford, Teyla and Ortiz went one way, and the other Ford went the other with Lorne, Brody and Henderson.

…oooOOOooo…

Sheppard looked down to the life signs detector, "About five hundred yards, ten o'clock, there's three of them, looks like some KraTak survived the time underwater."

"Actually they're probably Stomers," Ortiz mentioned.

"Are they different then KraTak?" Teyla asked.

"There basically the KraTak's foot soldiers." Ortiz watched the Stormer's dots on the Detector. "Looks like they're staying put, trying to see if anything on the ship is working."

"Fat chance of that, this thing is dead. Alright, let's get the job done."

…oooOOOooo…

Fifteen minutes later, The Commander was wondering if there was anything left alive on the ship besides them.

Suddenly, "Commander…" Lorne quietly yet forcibly said holding the detector up.

"What?"

"Five of them, just came into range, next intersection then right, they're coming this way."

"What is that thing by the way," Brody looked over Lorne's shoulder.

Lorne had heard about Brody's earlier conversation with Aiden, "Oh just some of our antique technology." He glared back at him.

"Alright, take cover people," he tapped his radio, "Sheppard, this is Ford, we have five coming our way." They hid behind fallen bulkhead and in a few open doors.

"Yeah, we've already found three. They were defiantly surprised to see us."

"They're about to turn the corner." Lorne informed.

"We'll get back to you in a second Colonel." Ford raised his weapon, bracing himself on the door jam.

As soon as all five were in sight, Ford opened fire, the rest follow his lead. The Stormers instantly raised their weapons at the intruders, but it was of no use. The one sided battle took only a few seconds.

"We're clear here," Ford informed the Colonel.

"Good, well then, you want to help us? We have ten of those Stormer guys sitting here in a room. Doesn't look like they have any idea we're not underwater anymore, obviously haven't gotten the word yet from his friends."

"We probably took out those that were coming for them."

Lorne stoke up, "I see where you are and the Stormers."

"Good, I thought we'd attack from both doors there and seeing if this whole element of surprise thing would work again."

Ford glanced at the detector, noticing the doors to the north of Sheppard team. "We can be there in five. We'll let you know when we're in place.

Three minutes later, Commander Ford radioed back that they were in place.

"Okay, on three then… One, two, three." Both doors were opened at the same time, surprising the unarmed Stormers, who weren't expecting anyone, especially humans, to be prancing though their doors. They had little hope, one or two were quick enough to get shots off, Aiden's arm was grazed, singeing the fabric of his jacket.

"Clear," Brody yelled.

"You okay Lt.?" Sheppard asked, taking in the dead aliens scattered around the room.

The young marine had a wide grin, "Did you see that? Those were lasers, so cool!" The last Stomers they'd come across hadn't had the chance to get any shots off.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Sorry Sir, barely touched me, mostly got my jacket."

Lonnie walked over the bodies, "It got you enough for you to bleed though."

"You know Jim," Ortiz stood next to him, "These things _do _work pretty well."

"They get the job done."

Their commander ignored them, "Colonel, are you sure this is all that's left on the ship."

He pointed to his vest, where he put the Life Signs Detector, "Hasn't lied yet. Let's get out of here and tell the techies they're free to poke around."

…oooOOOooo…

_I know it's short, but the next chapter will be back to it's usual length and quality… the work has stacked up this semester already, but I love you guys so I'm forcing writing into my schedule… _

_Stay tuned… namarie_


	6. Chapter 6

_Yes, yes… I know… it took me way to long to update…. And I truly am sorry… it's my last semester in college and the work load is insane… and yet somehow I got this chapter out during midterm week… but next week is break… so I'll be sure to crank out a chapter next week…. I still have lots of ideas.. just need to get them out on paper… so please be patient…. And I think you for being so… so… far… (that made sense in my mind… I swear)_

_And on with the show_

…oooOOOooo…

"This stuff makes no sense," Lucas pushed the hair out of his eyes.

"That's what the translation program and the laptops are for." McKay's fingers flew over the keyboard of his own computer.

The teenager went back over to the computer the Atlantis crew had supplied him with. "How exactly do you connect these to the alien technology?" He curiously pulled up the cables, following then to where they lead to.

"Magic,' McKay snapped, "can we get back to work?"

"Oh, please," Lucas was more then annoyed with Mckay. "I _grew up_ on computers like these, I think the first one I built ran this OS. I could upgrade this in no time if you want me to."

"How old were you when you built your first computer?" Zelenka asked without looking up.

"Eight."

"Oh," Radek looked up, thought about that for a second and looked back down.

"I mean it wasn't anything to write home about. It had its fair share of bugs, I only used such an old OS because that's the only software I could find in my dad's basement. I hadn't gotten around to hacking stuff from others yet" Lucas grinned to himself

The kid was getting on McKay's last nerve. "Well seeing as these computers are what's going to get your butt back to daddy's basement, why don't you just shut up and sit over there." He pointed to the corner.

Lucas went back to the console and pulled up another screen, "You're just jealous that you need my help."

Rodney stood up and turned, "Oh yes, I bow down before you and your genius. You know nothing about this technology."

"Well, neither do you." Lucas said back coolly.

Radek rolled his eyes. "This is going to be a long, long day" he mumbled under his breath in Czech.

"What was that?" Rodney asked.

"Nothing." He blew off, back to Czech, "You can't work with the man when he's like this."

They managed to work in relative peace for the next hour. The ball was bounced back and forth between Rodney and Lucas to see who can make the most snarktastic remark to the other. Finally Lucas slapped the console and stood up smiling. "I think I found the wormhole controls."

"What!" Mckay spat with a mix of frustration and doubt that a kid found the key information before him.

"What? Am I not speaking English? I. Think. I. Found. The. Wormhole. Controls…" Lucas glowered at the older man.

Zelenka, who had long ago gotten tired of being the intermediary between the two, but even longer ago resigned to the fact that he was the mediatory between McKay and anyone else; peered over Lucas' shoulder. "I think he is right, looks like what we are looking for." Lucas looked over to McKay with a mocking grin.

Rodney shot across the room, took over the console, pulled a few screens up and looked over what Lucas had found. "Hmmm… well, good for you. Let's get to work."

The sound of combat boots indicated the arrival of Sheppard. "Gentlemen, how's it goin' in here?"

"Oh, just splendid… come join the fun… round two will be starting at anytime." Radek spoke up before the other two could.

"Is the old genius jealous of the young genius." Sheppard played.

"Shut up," Mckay overheard and yelled back.

"Well I'll take that as my cue to leave again, just wanted to check in, see how you're doing."

"And you couldn't use the radio?" McKay asked.

"I enjoyed the walk."

"I found..." McKay started.

"_I_ found…" Lucas interrupted.

"_We_ found…" McKay rolled his eyes, "the wormhole controls"

"You just _now_ found them…"

"Would you like to take over? I bet you could do this much faster then the three of us." Rodney didn't need to deal with both him and Wolenczak.

"I'd prefer not…"

"Okay then, we'll let you know when we know something."

Sheppard whispered to Zelenka, "I don't know if I've ever pitied you more." Zelenka gave him a tired nod. He raised his voice again, "Play nice boys, don't make me take your toys away."

…oooOOOooo…

Lorne and Brody sat in Jumper two's control seats. At the moment there wasn't much to do, the jumpers sensors were keeping a watch on the area, looking for anything coming near them in the sky. There was a nervous tension in the air, that something would come looking for the downed ship.

"So do you remember who won the Stanley Cup?" Lorne asked as they sat and waited.

"What year?"

"'05."

Brody looked up, racking his brain, "Um… Hockey isn't really my sport… but wasn't the 2004-2005 season the one they cancelled… or was that 06?"

"They cancelled season? What? Why?"

"Who knows, like I said, I don't really follow hockey, too cold. I was also in elementary school at that time, remember."

"Riiight, you know, that takes some getting used to."

"You're telling me, I guess I know how my mom felt now…"

"Huh?"

"Nevermind…" at the same time, the corner of the HUD started blinking

"Shit," tapping his radio, "Colonel, this is Lorne."

"I'm here, what'cha got."

"Bad news I'm afraid, Sir. The jumper's sensors have picked up five unidentified ships heading this way and they're booking it.

"Are they KraTaK?"

"There's a good chance, can't think of anyone else."

"I can't tell, but Brody seems to think so." Ford relayed to Sheppard

"Well, if it is them. I'm sure they're not happy that we have their favorite ship. Well…" Lorne heard the ring of a boot hitting metal, "pieces of it at least. Go take a look, cloak the ship and see what's up. I'll meet you up there."

"Yes, Sir." To Brody, "You heard the man, let's go see who's interested in us."

"Did he say cloak the ship."

"Oh… you ain't seen nothing yet."

…oooOOOooo…

John ran back to the engineering section, "Mckay, we're going to have some guests real soon here. What's the chance we can just pull the harddrive and leave them the scraps of their ship?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure an intergalactic wormhole drive will fit wonderfully in my back pack."

"Yeah didn't think so."

"There's a chance it might," Radek hadn't even looked up from the screen he was staring at when Sheppard entered.

"What?" John and Rodney said at once.

"According to this, it looks like the actual wormhole generator is fairly compact," Lucas explained, he'd been staring at the same screen.

"Huge ship, tiny engine?" Sheppard asked.

Radek finally looked up, "No, the engines are massive, the generator is not what propels the ship though. Most of the mass of the wormhole generator is a power source, if we can cut that and use our own we _might_ be able to carry it."

"Okay," Sheppard sounded enthusiastic. "Then lets get the generator and get out of here."

"The whole _getting to it_ part, that may be difficult." Lucas cut in.

"Of course it will." John sighed.

Before Lucas could cut back in McKay explained. "We can't just go and rip it out of the ship."

"Why not."

"Well, because we have to be able to reconnect it to our own systems, so it has to be taken out without damaging it. Not to mention it's not like it's just sitting right here in the room. It's down in the actual engine."

"Great, why can't things ever be already boxed up and labeled."

…oooOOOooo…

_I still have work to do over break… but I WILL write… I promise… don't worry… Tim and the others will be back… _


	7. Chapter 7

I know, I know… I am so sorry it's been so long, but with a 19 credit semester and finals and graduation and the move home… I've barely had time to breath let along write. But I'm back now, so here's a new chapter… there's so many characters between these two shows it's hard to give everyone the time that I want to… but I'm trying… I promise…

_A few people have pointed out the fact that I have Lorne and Lt. Ford both on Atlantis, and like I said earlier, this is an AU…. Yes I AM a cannon whore… but I still don't like the fact that they got rid of Ford… so I'm just pretending like he never went all crazy and Dex never was… or at least stayed with them… I know… feel free to throw things… haha…_

_And without more talking… enjoy…_

…oooOOOooo…

Dr. Weir and Captain Bridger had been sitting in Weir's office for well over three hours trying to work out the logistics of a possible prolonged stay in Atlantis for the SeaQuest crew.

"Well, that should be enough space for your whole crew." Weir set down her tablet computer.

"Are you kidding me, they'll have over twice the living space they did on the SeaQuest. I don't think we'll hear any complaints. If anything, they'll be singing your praises. This city certainly is big."

"That it is, we haven't even been though half of it yet."

"If this little scheme to get us home doesn't work we certainly give you a hand in going though it all… How did you even find this place to begin with?"

"Actually, we came across an Ancient outpost on Earth, in Antarctica. We discovered the gate address there."

"Amazing, and no one ever ran across it before?"

"No, it was buried beneath half a mile of ice."

"How'd you find it then?"

Elizabeth grinned, "That is quite a long story, but the short version is that SG-1 found it after a member had a vast amount of knowledge downloaded into his brain."

Bridger paused for a second, "And I thought my mission reports were far fetched."

Out her window to the gate room, Weir saw Tim O'Neill wobbling up the large flight of stairs, Dagwood obviously trying to _help_. They were quite the comical duo, Tim was waving a crutch at Dagwood who was practically carrying Tim up the stairs. Weir stifled a laugh. Bridger, noticing her attention had shifted, followed her gaze.

"O'Neill certainly is in seventh heaven here." He grinned. "He's been studying every myth and story about Atlantis since he was born I think."

"This place sort of throws them all out the window doesn't it."

"That's for sure."

The sound of approaching crutches signaled Tim and Dagwood's arrival to Weir's office. "Hello gentlemen, how can we help you. Come to steal your intrepid captain away?"

Dagwood cocked his head curiously, "You cannot steal a person…"

Tim interrupted, "No, we were just wondering how thing are going on the planet, we haven't really heard anything, did they find the other half of the ship?"

"Colonel Sheppard and Commander Ford reported in a while ago. They recovered the other half of the SeaQuest and were going back for the KraTak ship. In fact the first survivors should be here anytime now." Weir informed them.

"I just came from Dr. Beckett in the infirmary for my check in. You'd think the entire Navy was going to come though his doors with the way he's prepared." Tim said.

Weir grinned, "He does tend to be over prepared, but it's better then the opposite."

"Quite true." Bridger came back.

"And I must say," Tim said, "His painkillers, are fanTAstic."

"Yes, so I've heard." Weir smirked, looking between Bridger and O'Neill

…oooOOOooo…

An hour later the first survivors came though the gate. Beckett and his team were waiting at the gate to meet them. Surprisingly though, there were few injuries. Tragically, most who came though the gate were casualties. Bridger tried with all his might to look on the bright side that most of who lived suffered at most concussions and broken bones.

Captain Bridger was also there to meet them; he did feel some guilt that he wasn't on the planet when they first were rescued. But there were only so many places he could be at once and he had enough of his crew already on Hyperion, that he felt his best place was on Atlantis for now, helping prepare things on this side of the gate.

The first thing the SeaQuest's crew did after being released from Dr. Beckett's wing was head straight for the mess. A few were instructed to report back after they had food in their systems. Bridger went from table to table, talking with each person, reassuring them that they were safe now where they were, and that they could trust the people on Atlantis. Tim and Dagwood, also mingled and even laughed with their crewmates. Even with the enormous loss of life, the fact that they were still alive and the fortunate circumstances of their rescue were enough to lift their sprits. All around him, he could hear stories being shared of their time trapped and amusing anecdotes about those they had lost.

An airman from the control room contacted while he was moving between tables. "Captain Bridger."

"Yes," He tapped his newly gotten radio.

"Sir, Commander Ford is calling for you from the planet."

"Patch him though please."

"Yes, Sir."

Next voice he heard was a familiar one for him. "Captain."

"How are things going on that end Commander?"

"So far so good sir, we've just brought up the KraTak ship and cleared it. A couple of their people are coming over from Atlantis to assist Lucas and McKay with the technology."

Bridger turned and left the mess, "I'm coming over with them; I want to see that ship."

…oooOOOooo…

Bridger, Commander Ford and Sheppard were standing outside the carved out entrance. The two younger men had just finished a lengthy report as to what had been happening in the retrieval thus far. "I'll tell you this much," Sheppard gestured to the ship, "I do NOT want to spend anymore time then I'd need to in that room."

Ford grinned, "I haven't really meet Dr. Zelenka yet, but I'm sure just having Lucas and Dr. McKay in the same room is enough to drive anyone crazy."

"I don't know how Dr. Z stands it, less then five minutes in there and I was about to pull out my hair." He reached up and ran his fingers though his hair. "That's why I left."

"Colonel, this is Lorne," Sheppard's radio cracked to life.

He tapped it, "I'm here, what'cha got."

"Bad news I'm afraid, Sir. The jumper's sensors have picked up five unidentified ships heading this way and they're booking it.

Ford sighed next to him, "Are they KraTaK?" Sheppard asked.

"There's a good chance, can't think of anyone else."

"I can't tell, but Brody seems to think so." Lorne relayed to Sheppard

"Well, if it is them. I'm sure they're not happy that we have their favorite ship. Well…" John turned and kicked a corner of the cut out door, causing a corner to snap off, "pieces of it at least. Go take a look, cloak the ship and see what's up. I'll meet you up there."

"Yes, Sir." Lorne signed out.

"Well Captain, Commander, if you'll excuse me, I have to go shoot some bad guys out of the sky."

…oooOOOoo…

Lorne and Brody paused Jumper Two midair as the KraTak ships approached.

"And… are you sure they can't see us?" Brody whispered to Lorne.

Ford kept his eyes on the ships as they became larger in the distance and grinned. "No they can't see us, and no, you don't have to whisper."

"Amazing."

Colonel Sheppard's voice came over the radios, "I'm lifting off now, I'll be there in five."

"Aye sir, they're almost right on top of us now. We're thirty miles out, once they pass we'll turn and follow them in."

"Good, don't do anything until I get there."

"Aye, Sir."

They may have been outnumbered, but the jumpers where far more maneuverable then the KraTak ships. The jumpers also had the advantage in the weapons area, their drones were target seeking, where as the KraTak's stayed on the same trajectory. Although if the jumpers did get hit by the larger ships, the damage could be devastating.

Sheppard closed in on Jumper Two's location, he noticed the larger ships heading toward him. A distance behind the five ships John spotted the other jumper on his HUD. Sheppard was perfectly capable of flying a jumper in a dogfight on his own, he was probably the only one who could pull it off. Granted, Major Lorne was more then a capable pilot, but he couldn't match the Colonel for combat skills or the control of the ATA gene.

"Alright Major, I'm right on the other side of them. On my mark we're going to uncloak and fire together."

"Yes sir, I see you. Sir, we've been studying their ships as we've been following them and we're fairly certain we've located their engine and weapons control. I'm sending you the schematics now."

"I see them. Alright, let's take out weapons first, we'll have surprise on our side so hopefully we can take them all out before they get a shot off. Target they're engines on the second pass. We'll cross each other, turn and cross again on the second run. Nice and quick, I don't want them to target us. Think blur Major."

"Aye sir," Lorne grinned.

Just as the two jumpers were about the same distance apart, "Now Major!"

Simultaneously both jumpers appeared and speed though the KraTak formation. Like a couple of box shaped ninjas, a total of five drones were let loose, all hitting their targets or at least close enough that the explosions damaged their targets.

"Should have looked at those diagrams again John," He said to himself.

Once though the KraTak formation, both ships executed graceful overhead arcs twisting again upright as they completed the maneuver. Coming back though the stunned enemy ships, it was evident Lorne and Brody were wrong about the weapons.

"Damn it Lorne, they're still firing at us." The two jumpers, who at this point had lost their element of surprise, darted out of the way to avoid they enemy fire. "I thought we got their weapons systems."

Brody responded, "I'm sorry sir. I had no clue they had secondary weapons."

"Well let's kill that now."

"On it sir," Lorne muttered back.

The plan went out the preverbal window as the two jumpers danced in and out of the larger ships. There was still a grace behind their flying though. Sheppard and Lorne were obviously familiar with each others flying skill, never once coming close to a collision or friendly fire. Although one might say the drones we're programmed not to hit other Lantian ships, but both pilots like to think otherwise. It was clear Sheppard was the superior pilot, skimming much closer to the KraTak ships and pulling faster, tighter maneuvers.

As John raced along next to one of the ships, as a drone collided with it's engines, he was surprised to find another ship too close for comfort. He pulled hard to port to avoid both collision and enemy fire. He almost made it too. The KraTak enemy blast crackled along the side of Jumper One. Thankfully the jumper's skin was tougher then it looked and after the power flickered only cosmetic damage was left of John's close call.

John quickly spun the ship around and took out the weapons of the ship that hit him. Quickly sending out another volley to finish their engines. That left who ships alive, the other three already either crashed into the icy waters or on their way.

Almost immediately after, Lorne's piloting skills we're enough for him to escape the two KraTak ships bearing down on them. Only one had weapons left, the other strictly herding the jumper to the other. Sparks inside the skip flew as their starboard engine was hit.

Jumper Two half limped/half fell out of the way of the two ships. By that time Shepard had reached them, he took out the first ship's engines, preventing them from stopping or moving out of the way of the ship that damaged Jumper Two. They didn't have the time to fully escape their trajectory, a series of explosions ripped though each ship, creating a fireworks display unlike anything you could ever see in space. Both jumpers flew, as they could, away from the blast. The entire fight lasted less then seven minutes.

"You two okay over there," Sheppard winced as he saw the damage the other jumper took.

"We'll be limping home, but we're fine for now. Although after McKay and Dr. Z see what happened to the ship, I may be in trouble."

"Oh I think you can handle them. Let's get back, I'm sure they'll come looking for their ships." And with that, the two jumpers slowly made their way back to the beach and the SeaQuest; while the KraTak ships sank in pieces below them.

…oooOOOooo…

yay… and as always… please review… I know this is a long story and your reviews are what keeps me going… I'm determined to finish this even if it kills me… I promise it won't take as long this time for a new chapter… grin 

_namarie_


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